Never Ending Purgatory
by Clovers-Charm
Summary: What happens to those who died? Well, they didn't find peace? If anything they found a world worse than the FAYZ. Without Sam, Astrid and Edilio to help lead them and give them answers, these children must struggle on their own with no ending in sight.
1. Bette & Dennis I

"Shit! My leg!" Dennis hissed as quietly as he could manage. The pain began to scream through his nerves from his ankle up to his knee. He stumbled forward but somehow managed to stay up on his feet.

"What are you doing?" Bette snapped, coming to a stop so she could glare back at him.

"My leg! It got stuck in a ditch! I think I twisted it!" Dennis hissed, wincing as he struggled to hobble after her.

"Well ignore it!" Bette growled, showing no sympathy for his pain. Why should she? Her own legs were aching as if covered in bruises, she had a permanent stitch in her side, her throat was painfully dry and she had an uncountable number of minor scratches and cuts all along her arms an shoulders but she refused to complain. She was just turning to continue to stomp through the heavily weeded and muddy ground when another branch scratched at her knuckles, drawing blood as if to torment her further but she still barely made a sound anymore.

"I can't." He moaned, coming to a stop after a minute of trying to scramble along in order to keep up with her, he turned to lean against a thin tree, panting heavily from the effort he had been making.

Bette glared at him, once again coming to a stop. She had been here for a few years now - or maybe it was just a few days. It was hard to keep up track of time - and so far she had survived all the horrors it had to hold for her but then she had been on her own back then. She only had to look out for herself when suddenly Dennis had been dropped into her lap (quite literally as he had fallen out of a tree on top of her) and somehow he had clung on to her from then on-wards.

The two of them then ended up depending on each other. It had worked out occasionally. When they found places to rest they would take turns keeping an eye out, though neither needed to sleep for long, they still needed to rest for just a few minutes after days of running. They were there for one another to give a line when they couldn't reach something and help with the worst of their injuries but normally that just meant a particularly painfully bleeding scrape on their legs. They had yet to break or seriously hurt anything that would actually slow them down, at least until now.

"You have to at least try!" Bette whispered, feeling the tension building with every step they did not take.

The smart thing would be to leave Dennis and continue to run on her own but she couldn't do it. Not now after all the time they had spent with one another, getting to know each other and helping each other. Plus, Bette wasn't ready to go back to being alone again. Bette had been alone for so long she had almost forgotten about other humans and how they felt the same as her, but now she was reminded of it she cursed it! It was weakness and it would get her killed! But being alone was also frightening and cold and she was just too weak to be alone anymore.

She hesitated and glanced around the heavy area, silently cursing her problems, when her eyes were drawn to a strong thick looking tree not too far to her right. "Okay, do you think you can climb at least?"

"Maybe..." Dennis mumbled, not looking very sure as he limped over to her.

"Try. And quickly." Bette snapped.

Dennis moved slowly to the nearest tree to him. It was weak and frail looking like it might come out of the ground if he so much as touched it but it had the lowest branches. Bette sighed and grabbed his arm, dragging him over to the stronger looking one that might actually hold his weight. He was smaller than her, even though he was technically older, and she easily dragged him along behind her. Dennis stared up at the tree and slowly moved towards the lowest branch that seemed to slope down slightly. But it was still out of reach. With his hand stretched up, his finger tips barely scraped the bark when he was standing on his toes. Bette moved without being told, grabbing the back of Dennis' legs and lifting him up onto her shoulders with a loud grunt of effort. Dennis squeaked slightly in shock and glanced down at her.

"Quickly!" Bette growled, straining slightly as she pushed his feet up. He hesitated just a moment longer before he reached up and wrapped an arm around the trunk, standing on Bette's shoulders and jumping up, throwing his body around the branch and nearly kicking Bette in her face.

Dennis wasn't exactly heavy but he wasn't light. Bette could feel more strength leaving her and she wasn't sure she would be able to climb up even if she did get help from Dennis. As soon as Dennis was sitting on the trees extra arm, Dennis lied down on his stomach as flat as he could make himself and reached down, grabbing Bette's hand to pull her up after him. She had to jump on already weak legs to reach his hand but she was sweating and her fingers slipped easily from his hand causing her to drop down, hitting the ground hard.

"Owch!" Bette gasped, rubbing her back where her tail bone hit the ground. The earth was soft but still painful to fall back on.

"You okay?" Dennis blinked, feeling his own nerves building so tightly he was worried he might throw up on her.

"No! I feel-! Damn it!" Bette snapped, standing and wiping the sweat off her hand and onto her dark blue denim shorts, staining them with the mud and blood that had been building over the last few nights since they had left the river side.

She was just getting ready to try again when she heard something that made her heart freeze in her chest and her bones turn cold in her skin. It was a low howling sound that rang through the air and bounced against the trees. It was horribly close and it echoed for what seemed like much longer than it actually was, surrounding Bette where she stood. She looked around but it was too dark, the trees too close and the sky too clouded for her to see any shapes that could be coming for her.

"Bette!" Dennis shrieked, forgetting the number one rule of being quiet. "Hurry!"

She jumped again and grabbed his hand but in their haste she slipped again and once again fell down to the ground hard landing on her hip. Bette let out a sob of terror and jumped up onto her feet, jumping and snatching for his hand once again. She slipped a third time, landing awkwardly on her leg and sending pain through her and the growls were growing louder and coming from every possible angle all around her like there were thousands of them purposely surrounding her before they pounced. Bette stood and jumped, reaching up for Dennis and bouncing on her feet, for a brief moment she was reminded of her nickname back before she came to this place; Bouncing Bette.

She tried twice more and twice more she slipped and fell to the ground. Dennis was leaning over so far it looked like he might fall off the tree as he tried to grab a hold of her with both hands to drag her up. Bette wanted to tell him to stop being stupid and not to fall for her but her fear made her selfish side rise and all she could think of was saving herself. She didn't want to die. At least not again.

The first of the creatures appeared from two large trees to her right just as Dennis managed to get a firm hold of her hand, squeezing so tight Bette briefly wondered if he might break her fingers. With a firm hold, he could only just bring her up high enough so she could grab the trunk with her free hand but even that was sliding under her palm. Bette's feet hung bellow her and the creature darted over to the tree, bellowing and snapping at her feet, jumping and almost catching onto her naked toes. Bette pulled her legs up, scratching her feet at the bark to find a place where she could grip and push herself up but her strength was failing her and she felt her fingers slipping through his fingers once again as well as on the bark. Dennis grabbed her arm around the elbow and pulled her with all his strength, the creature snapped sharply and Bette felt it scratch her heel and felt it draw blood.

"AH!" Bette shouted and tears began to flood her eyes. "Hurry up, Dennis!"

Dennis finally grabbed the waistband of her shorts, pulling and dragging her up onto the trunk. She lay on her stomach with her hands and feet still hanging bellow but now out of reach from the creatures, gasping and slowly sitting up. She had to move slowly because she couldn't move fast if she wanted to, she no longer had the strength to do anything fast. She was bleeding heavily from her heel now and the creature panted as they lapped up the blood thirstily that dripped down towards them.

"Damn, damn, damn!" Bette snapped, fighting to control her sobs, lifting her foot to cover the wound and stop the blood flow.

"You okay?" Dennis gasped.

"Yeah, but he got my blood." Bette gasped, more tears replacing the ones she had wiped away. "He has my taste. He has me."

"Don't worry, it will run dry eventually when it catches on someone else." Dennis shrugged.

"I hope so." Bette mumbled, staring down at the creature as it growled now she was no longer allowing her body to feed him. Then she realized what she had just said and let out another sob. She was literally hoping for someone else's death so that she might live.

They remained settled on the branch watching the creatures growling and snarling bellow them for a short while before they began to grow nervous about the possibility of the branch snapping under them. It wasn't really wheezing or tipping but they didn't want to take any chances that might have them drop down to the ground. After a moment of quiet arguing, Dennis moved carefully to a side by branch slightly higher and the two sat in silence once more.

They were lucky the creatures couldn't climb up after them. The only problem was that they couldn't rest much because there was a chance they would roll or slip and fall down to the ground at be at the creatures mercy. Instead they sat up, clinging onto the branches and watching the creature in silent as they waited for it to grow bored and leave them alone. It could take days but eventually it would find someone else to keep it interested and while Bette and Dennis would feel guilty they knew they would have no other choice unless they wanted to die as well.

While they waited Dennis reached into his pocket and pulled out some kind of torn handkerchief he had found some days earlier that had been caught on a thorn bush. They mostly used it to wash themselves when they were lucky to stumble across a lake, but Bette's heel was bleeding heavily now and so he handed it to her.

"Wrap your foot up." Dennis advised. She took the material and noticed how badly he was shaking but politely ignored it.

Carefully, Bette wrapped the handkerchief around her heel and tied it tightly into a triple knot above her foot. Then she wiped her hands once again on her denim to get rid of the heavy layer of blood. By now her shorts were stained so much it was impossible to tell what colour they had been originally. As it was her white top now looked black with occasion splashes of grey. Even her hair which had once been a sweet honey brown colour was lank, straw like with a mixture of mud and grease clogging it. She had given up on it after a while and cut it right down to her head in a boyish fashion. At least it was out of the way now.

Dennis wasn't much better than her. Bette looked over at him and realized with an almost laugh that his hair was longer then her's though just as filthy. The original bleach blond looked like something out of a swamp that had been left over time. His own white top had earned a great rip down the back and was barely hanging on now and his jeans were not much better. Bette had found him a vine from a old fallen tree that he now used as a belt to hold everything together but soon they might have to find some new clothes for him. Of course they had no shops around and that only left the corpses of those who had been unable to handle this place.

She hadn't met him back in the old days but he told her he used to be overweight but like most of the people left in that world, he lost the extra weight and more when the kids began to starve. Now he looked much more like a skeleton than a fourteen year old boy.

Bette shivered at the thought of that and found herself thinking back to her brother. Her poor brother. Alone in a world of starving children and killer freaks. She had never stopped thinking about her brother. Sometimes her thoughts went dark and she thought about what she should have done to save him from the horror of starving. The things she could have done to save them both long before the dangers of the FAYZ started. But then Bette thought of his sweet face and knew she could never really be able to do anything to Keith. Even if it meant saving him. Dennis didn't know if he was still alive, but Bette hoped he was, because if he wasn't then he might be stuck somewhere here like so many other people she had seen.

The tree they were sitting on was dark and damp, constantly throughout the day it was always damp, with thick leaves spread out along the branches that were equally as dark. Everything here seemed dark and it was impossible to tell when it was day or night, if there was a day or night that was. The sky was covered in a permanent dark grey clouds, with no sun or moon and yet there was always just enough unknown light for them to vaguely see what was around them. There were trees at every turn and it had seemed that way for as long as they had entered this place.

Bette and Dennis had been among the many others to run through the forest, searching for an end but unable to find it so far. They hadn't seen anyone yet but the two of them had each heard the others. They continued to search because they had no other choice. None of them knew why they were there, they just continued to struggle and search for a way out by running and running. It was better than just giving up and letting the horrific scenes happen to them. Even suicidal kids rather stabbed or hung themselves than face the creatures slow and painful death. If it was a death that is... Maybe it was just another torturous land that would constantly attack and hunt them for the rest of time.

Bette moved close to the tree and wrapped her arms around it, needing to hold onto something for both comfort and security, resting her head on its cool surface. She was tired and wanted to shut her eyes even if she would only sleep for a few minutes but she knew better than to try. Still it was hard. She glanced over and saw Dennis was in the same position, lying on the branch with his arms wrapped around it, blinking repeatedly and watching the creature in order to stay awake by watching its terrifying features.

It was hours after they had climbed the tree when they heard the screams. They happened almost every day or night or whatever it was. Someone was always screaming, either from fear, pain or pure hopelessness. The last one was the worst and sometimes it was hard to resist joining in. Everyone had let out that scream at least once since arriving in this strange place.

These screams were for fear and as they grew louder, Bette and Dennis could tell they were getting closer. Whoever was screaming was heading straight for them.

"Please go away..." Dennis whispered.

Bette shut her eyes, silently thinking the same thing. They would be unable to help them and so all they would be able to do is watch as they were killed or as they ran away to be caught and killed later on. It was too much to make Bette and Dennis watch. And maybe they would get away if they didn't run directly towards of the large pack of the creatures that were still circling the tree.

Their prayers were unanswered and the person, a boy, reached their tree. He saw them and screamed for help but the words were barely out of his mouth before the creatures that had been watching for Bette and Dennis had turned and pounced on him. Barely nine years old and he had a dozen creatures on him at once. Bette shook and her stomach clenched painfully but she blinked and refused to cry, even when she heard the tearing of flesh and when the last of the screams were choked out and ended only in bloody gurgles. She looked at Dennis who was openly sobbing and digging his broken nails into the bark of the trunk he was hugging but Bette refused to cry. She would cry enough for herself, it was pointless to waste tears on others.

No matter how much her heart cried, she wouldn't let the tears be shown to the rest of the God forsaken world.

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**This is a short chapter. I'm going to try and make them longer as I go on. This was just a bit of an intro really. **

**Next Chapter: The Breeze!**


	2. Brianna I

She discovered that she wasn't as fast as she used to be in this new place. In no way was she anywhere near as slow as a normal human kid her age but her ridiculous supernatural speed was gone.

Brianna had woken up on an open stretch of sand right beside the open ocean. Everything around her was darker than normal but she could make out the waves that rushed against the sand and almost hit her naked feet. Her red trainers had vanished but she was still wearing her bright orange top and her dark purple body warmer with her white shorts. Her hairbands were gone and her hair fell down around her shoulders, some of it falling down in front of her eyes. The sand under her felt rough but warm against her bare skin and the salty sea air filled her nose when she took a breath in. As she sat up, the sand clutched to her hair but mostly it fell down off of her shoulders back onto the ground or onto her lap.

She waited a moment, settled on the ground with sand occasionally dropping down beside of her from her hair. Slowly she brushed a hand through her hair like someone who had just woken from a coma and wasn't really sure where they were. Brianna glanced around but she had no idea where she was and she was having trouble remembering what had happened.

Then it all came back to her. Slowly over time as she sat squinting out to the ocean she remembered her name, her family, her old life at home before her step father came.

It came like an old movie in her mind. She forgot it until she saw it and then she wondered how she could possibly not remember that but still she couldn't recall what came next until she saw it in her mind.

The twins came and her step father convinced her mother to send her off to Coates for her grades... She irritated a few teachers but some of her maths improved thanks to the punishments if you didn't get a certain mark on your tests... She made a few friends that she hung around with but wasn't especially close because they were all rather nasty deep down... She and her friends had an argument where they pinned her down and drew on her face for... For something... For not agreeing with them! It was an argument about one of the teachers and Brianna had argued. She had no friends at Coates after that but it was okay because she was convincing her mother to let her come home. Some time around then Brianna started to become faster than everyone slowly until it was inhuman. Caine had noticed and tried to be her friend but Brianna didn't like Diana or Drake and so only pretended...

She remembered Caine, Drake and Diana and felt an intense hatred building as everything came back to her.

Her mother got back to her and she was finally going to stand up to her husband and allow Brianna to come home! But then the FAYZ happened... Brianna remembered her hands being cemented... She remembered acting like a dog while she was prisoner... Being saved by Sam... Living in Perdido Beach... Training herself... Fighting humans, mutants, bugs and coyotes alike... The big fights... Gaia...

Her death came as a cold memory and Brianna stayed where she was, sitting and staring at the ocean. It was peaceful but some part of the ocean felt like a torment. She remembered her death very well.

When Brianna had gotten up onto her feet and began to explore she could make out a large set of rocks on the other side of the sand that acted almost like a set of steps to the large cliff like hill. She stumbled over and placed her hands on the hill but it was soft mud and it fell apart in her hands. There was no way she would be able to climb that. Instead she stumbled over to the rocks and began to try to climb up on top of them, wanting to get as high as she could so she might be able to look around and see exactly where she was. The rocks were damp but they were rough and she was able to climb up on them.

The beach wasn't the same one from Perdido Beach. She could tell that just by what was around it. The sky seemed to be constantly dark and when she did manage to get up on the rocks she saw that on the hill was a stretch of muddy grass and a single line of pavement that led straight down. In the far off view she saw a few more hills as well as what she guessed was a large forest area full of thick trees. This was definitely no longer the FAYZ.

Brianna had taken a seat on the rocks at that moment and remembered everything in between the foggy thoughts in such detail like her entire life had just happened all in one day yesterday. Including every detail of her death by the hands of Gaia. It was painful, she remembered that, but it was also quick and the next thing she knew she was waking up here. This had to be death. It had to be heaven but... Why was it so dark? Unless it was hell. Unless the Bible was true and for every sin that Brianna had done, like not loving the Lord, or not praying or whatever it said that she hadn't done, had sent her down to Hell.

That was a scary thought. But it could have been worse. Whenever Brianna thought of hell she imagined it a fire pit. She imagined a forever burning torment of horror and monster demon images that tormented her, this was just like a dark version of the normal world.

Brianna wondered what she should do next... She pushed herself back into a ball on the middle rock and ran a hand through her hair to push it out of her face, wishing she had her hairbands again. She hated her hair being down because then it got all in her face. Especially when she was running it practically blinded her and whipped at the back of her neck and face almost painfully. Maybe there might be a hairband somewhere here... or something she could use for a hairband.

Then she realized that she wasn't cold despite the chilly looking air while she dressed in summer clothes. There didn't seem to be a sun yet the air was warm and the sand had been hot. Brianna hesitated and tried to think of how she felt. She felt normal but... Her hunger was gone. She wasn't hungry anymore even though seconds before her death she had been starving. Brianna knew she was dead but it was still a surprise not to feel hungry. She wondered what else she wouldn't feel any longer. Would she need to use the bathroom? Would she need to drink?

Brianna climbed down off of the rock and began to search through the sand after a moment of inspiration. After a while she found a short thin stick and climbed back onto the rock, taking a seat beside of the cliff and began to dig into the soft mud and carefully write down all the things she needed to do that she might not need to do any more now that she was in heaven or hell or wherever. There wasn't much but it kept her busy for a while. After that she began to write down ideas of different things she could do now that she was in this new place. Could she call it a new world? What did that matter? Brianna wanted to focus on what she was supposed to do next. She could head towards the hills which would give her an even bigger view of where she was, or she could go to the forest but there wasn't much reason for that.

"Hills it is, I guess." Brianna mumbled. "Maybe I'll run into someone else. I wonder if Duck's here... Or maybe Orsay..." She wasn't particular friends with them but she liked them both well enough. She knew there were other people who died and could be here but for some reason no names came to her. They probably would eventually. For now all she could think of was Duck and Orsay. Especially Orsay. She had been manipulated by the darkness and for a while Brianna had considered she might be the prophetess. It would be nice to meet up with somebody while she was here. Unless they were somewhere else.

Brianna didn't like the idea of being alone in an open world. She'd much prefer a heaven or even a hell if there were other people there with her.

"The hills!" Brianna said, beaming as she jumped onto her feet. It should take her no time at all with her speed... She assumed she would still have it. It was her heaven after all so maybe she had even more than just speed. It would be nice to have strength as well as speed or maybe Sam's Light power. Climbing up the rest of the hill onto the soft muddy grass, Brianna braced herself and set off on a run.

She knew immediately she no longer had her speed. She tired almost instantly and barely ran at all with her feet slipping on the mud almost knocking her off her feet. She was slow and clumsy and after only a few seconds of running towards the hill did she came to a stop and glare at herself. So... No speed? And the hills were definitely a long way off from here. Brianna wondered if she would slowly get hungry over time like her body had reset itself or if she would be fine to walk straight down to the hills without needing any sort of break. She assumed if she didn't need to eat then she wouldn't need to sleep.

Brianna decided to get walking. She found the pavement which was cold and damp like everything else here and began to walk slowly, earning her breath back from running slowly and keeping her head held high. If Brianna was anything it was optimistic. Yeah, she was annoyed that she was dead. She wasn't even going to kid herself about maybe being a dream, she knew she had died, and she was upset about it. If she thought about it for too long then she did feel like crying but mostly she pushed those thoughts from her mind. Right now she wanted to focus on one thing at a time.

She could cry about her life later. First get a lay of the land, maybe find out if there were any people about beside her that she might be able to get in contact with. If there were more people they could make a little civilization here. They would start a whole new world. There were trees so they could make little make shift houses, of course they would need to look and find something sharp to cut the trees down with but there had to be a way... If not then they could just live like in the old days! Find a cave and hide away.

Brianna found herself looking forward to working out how to survive. In the FAYZ it had been scary because she feared death. But now she was dead, what else was there for her to fear? Unless there was no one else here... Then she feared loneliness.

Brianna kept walking down the long pathway heading for the hills that gradually grew bigger the close she came to them. After what felt like hours of walking Brianna sat down and came to a rest, rubbing her feet and stretching her limps. Her body didn't exactly ache but her feet kind of did. She lay back and stretched on the ground, glancing around of her. It seemed like it would take her days before she would reach those hills, they seemed much farther off now that she realized she would be walking at the incredibly slow pace of walking rather than her speed.

"Maybe I should have stayed by the beach." Brianna sighed, shutting her eyes.

It turned out that she did need sleep because while lying on the ground she drifted off. She didn't dream but she was woken not too long later, though it was impossible tell how long exactly because there didn't seem to be any change to the atmosphere around her. She was woken but for a moment she lay on the ground, staring up at the dark grey clouded sky, wondering what it was that woke her.

Then she heard that sound that was slicing through the air... It was the sound of howling animals. Brianna blinked and sat up, rubbing the rest of the sleep from her eyes with the balls of her hands. She stood up, stretching and taking a deep breath, wanting to yawn but for some reason unable to do so, before she looked around, trying to find the source of the howling.

She found it a minute later. It was coming from the right, somewhere from the cliff that led down to the beach, there were at least a dozen great shapes that were moving towards her, very quickly. It didn't take much for Brianna to identify them as dogs. They were definitely dogs, big, obviously but they had sharp ears and a long snout nose. They were quite far off and heading straight for her. Brianna had a cold feeling in her stomach but she stood, watching the dogs as they came closer. They all looked the same, large, wide shoulders, and they seemed to have black fur completely, even darker than anything else in the world which was what made them stand out. They moved fast, faster than Brianna now but if she had her speed she could have out ran them easier than a toddler.

"Run." Brianna spoke, talking to herself. She took a step back but didn't do as told, stuck watching the dogs closing in. She knew she had to move but for some reason a part of her just wouldn't listen. She could feel the danger like when she saw the Bugs but her body was just so shocked to find dogs in the dead world, wondering why they were here that she wouldn't listen. "Run!" Brianna shouted, commanding herself to move.

Finally she listened, turned and ran. She was tired quickly but she pushed every ounce of strength she had into her legs with the dogs dangerous close. She ran with any power she might have, her legs beating and her feet slapping against the hard concrete under her and the sound seemed to echo. She pumped her arms along beside of her, her hair being thrown back out of her way. Brianna glanced back and saw the dogs incredible close now, she could make out a strange tinge of silver coming from them but then she was facing forward again before she could focus on the details. Keeping her eyes locked on the hills ahead, Brianna ran and ran, breathing quick short bursts as she forced herself on and on.

It took her a while before she took notice of everything around her moving in a blur passed her face. She was moving fast. Nowhere near as fast as in the FAYZ but still not the same as a normal non-mutated human. Brianna felt a slight thrill but refused to allow this happy thought to slow her down. If anything it was that thought that pushed her on, that got her to move faster until her limbs slowly began to strain and ache for the first time she was here.

So she could feel pain. That wasn't a comforting thought.

Brianna ran, squinting at the hills ahead and kept running. She refused to glance back over her shoulder in case it slowed her down. Brianna found it hard to breath but forced herself to and kept running despite the clenching in her chest. Her feet hurt the most but that didn't stop her. If anything the pain motivated her. She could feel pain meaning those dogs could hurt her and the pain in her feet and all along her limbs would be nothing compared to if those dogs got their teeth into her.

Finally the hill were much closer than before and Brianna risked on look back. The dogs were back off in the distance again. Brianna allowed herself to slow down, stopping and sitting down hard onto the ground. She took quick breaths, staring off at the dogs as they continued to bound her way. She rubbed her sore limbs and looked at her feet. They were bright red, painful to the touch and tingling sensitively. Brianna glanced up but the dogs were still a long way off. She spent the time sitting on the ground and catching her breath, gently rubbing her feet to ease some of the pain. She waited until she could make out the number of dogs, three in total, before she stood up, turned and stared off at the hill.

They were still quite a way away. She would run herself dead if she kept going that way. But the forest was just as far and there was nothing that she could see that was any closer. She needed somewhere that she could find now to hide and get away from those dogs but all around her was just an open stretch of land. Brianna glanced back and the dogs were closing in on her once again. She needed to move.

Brianna started to run again. Once more her feet ache and her limbs screamed at her for making them move so much, practically the minute she started to move they shouted in protest. She moved every part of her body, gasping for breath until her throat and mouth dried out but once again everything around her turned into a blur as she began to move fast.

And so she went on. Brianna ran for an hour, counting it in her head before she came to a stop, checking over her shoulder and resting. She repeated this three times, each time growing more and more weary. Her feet grew more and more sore, small scraps and cuts beginning to build and the soles of her feet were such a dark red now they were almost brown, but then that could just be the dirt. Sometimes she lost count but if so then she just started again and kept running, sometimes for more than an hour if she lost count too much but to her it was important to do no less.

Brianna's arms, legs and feet were now aching more than when they ever had in the FAYZ, she had a stitch in her side and she was suddenly incredibly need for a drink, not because she was especially thirsty but her mouth and throat were definitely dry. She glanced over her shoulders but the dogs were still following her for three hours. They couldn't be normal dogs. Normal dogs would have given up by now and ran off for something else. Brianna had a moment where she wanted to pause to watch them and see what they really were like but she knew they would hardly pause for her so she could study them.

For a total of five hours Brianna repeated this process. She ran, counting in her head, paused, had a moment of rest and ran again. Brianna was getting weaker and weary, she wanted to take another nap but she didn't dare in case she slept too long and allowed the dogs to catch up with her. Brianna would never allow the dogs to get much closer to her. The minute she could clearly count how many were after her she had to start running for the hills again.

But finally when the five hours were up Brianna looked back and saw they were gone. Brianna stopped sharply, skidding slightly and scratching a thin layer of skin from her feet and looked around but they seemed to have vanished. She turned in a complete circle but all that was left was an open stretch of space again with no other things there but the trees and the hills.

"Finally." Brianna gasped, only a small part of her wondered what had happened to the dogs. They just vanished but this was a dead strange world.

Brianna collapsed to the ground, once again lying down and rubbing at he sore feet gently to ease some of the pain on the now scratched surface. Brianna brushed sweat from her face and brushed her hair from her eyes. She scraped it back like she might pull it to a pony tail and twisted it around on itself tucking it down the back of her top. That was the best she could do for now to keep it out of her face.

She looked up but the hill was still quite far away only now the cliff was just as far away. Brianna wondered if she would be able to really make it to the hills. What if this was day? What did that mean night was going to be like? That was another scary thought. Brianna looked straight at the hills, took a deep breath and stood as she began to slowly walk towards the hills once more. This time she could take her time, catching her breath and calm down but she couldn't help but repeatedly look over her shoulder in case the dogs would appear again.

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**Let me know what you think! Also, if you have favourite names for minor OC's then let us know, or I'll even use your own name!**

**Next Chapter: Orc and Orsay**


	3. Orsay & Orc I

Sleep was only needed for a little more than a few minutes. It was hard to tell but Orsay had settled down by a large lake with had a small waterfall. She had dug a hole as deep as she could near the waterfall so that only a small drop fell in it every second. She watched it for a hole minute before making a mark and then making multiple marks up it the same size with a small number to suggest how many minutes passed. Just to be sure she even fell asleep with her fingers just hanging over the edge of the hole so she would be woken by the cold liquid before it over flowed. It took a lot of time setting it up but soon she was woken after ten minutes of sleep. She found another spot and dug a similar hole where only a drop would get in every second and dug it so her hole body could fit in before she once again fell asleep. Orsay woke on her own this time and quickly checked to see how deep the water was. According to the marks she had made, Orsay had been sleeping for just under twenty five minutes. This could just be an off day so Orsay made to empty the water in the hole, filling it with mud so she could re dig it and try again when she was next tired.

It was a good thing she had set up by the lake as her little home. She could wash in the water, occasionally wet her tongue if it felt too rough though she didn't need to drink and the water tasted horrible anyway. The place she was, was surrounded with thick vine covered bushes and only a very small gap for Orsay to crawl in and out of when she wanted to go anywhere. The dogs would not be able to squeeze through and if they tried to tear the bushes to pieces then Orsay had practiced swimming under the lake out into the river to safety. She had discovered she did not need to breath. She held her breath for almost thirty minutes before she grew bored and decided to stop. It was uncomfortable and she couldn't look in the water because it burned her eyes but it would help her if she needed to escape. The ground she knelt on was soft under her legs, the grass was wet and the mud slick. It wasn't exactly nice but it was the best she could do in terms of hiding.

When Orsay had woken up she had been on a beach that was incredibly warm. She had walked along the beach until she had found the river and then followed the river up to her hiding spot. It had slowly grown cooler the closer she came to the lake and while it was not cold it was no longer warm. Orsay had managed to keep her clothes clean. She stripped down from her denim skirt and cleaned the worst of the muck off of it in the river and lake before hanging it on a skeleton bush to dry and did the same with her light pink blouse. She had no shoes but she did have a cotton jacket that she had torn up (since it wasn't really cold) and made into little slipper like shoes, tied with a string of the material to hold them on her feet.

Orsay used her fingers to brush through her hair when it got tangled and then took some more torn material from her jacket to tie it up into a ponytail. She wrapped the rest of the torn material in one of the larger pieces and tied it so it resembled a back pack that she could wear on her shoulders with thick knots to make sure it didn't come loose.

She had been in that world for a while and had so far survived. She survived a while before a dog showed up for the first time. It was just one but it was big, much bigger than her or any dog she had seen before in the other world with black fur and strange metal bits of fur and bright green eyes. It looked like a Dobberman. Orsay had found a Dobberman once on the streets while she had lived with her mother before her relapse. It was vicious but nowhere near as viscous as this animal. This animal was drooling with sharp teeth and had an almost red outline aura like to it.

The dog had jumped on her and Orsay had screamed, fighting before she managed to kick it and break free in a one in a million lucky chance. She had gotten onto her feet and ran along the river but the dog chased and caught up quickly. Orsay had thrown herself over the river to avoid it but slipped and fell back into the water with splash. She sat up in the water, coughing and spluttering, the heavy cotton on her jacket and the parts lined with thick fur felt heavy like it might drag her down. The dog had barked by the side of the river but did not get into the water though it kept moving like it wanted to and reached out as far as it's neck would allow.

Orsay had stood and stared at the dog but it made no move to get into the water and eventually gave up, turning and running away for easier prey. Orsay watched it go but didn't dare leave the water and walked the rest of the way in the middle of the river, fighting the current until she saw a little gap in a thick bush that soon became the new front door of her home.

The dogs occasionally did pass, she heard them. One day, Orsay was sitting in the middle of the river, completely naked as she washed her blouse while her skirt dried on one of the bushes when two dogs appeared. They looked exactly alike, right down to the amount of silver metal fur that they had. The dogs growled at her angrily but Orsay barely moved. She was used to it and as long as she was in the water she was safe.

The dogs growled but turned and began to walk down the lake away from her, not staying nearly as long as the other dog had. Orsay watched them go and returned to washing her top. She had no soap but if she rubbed at the muck and dirt long enough the water eventually washed it away.

But then Orsay heard a scream and she froze where she was. So far she had not seen or heard from any one else human, though part of her assumed they were there, but now she could not pretend she didn't know.

The scream was loud and petrified. It was childlike and Orsay felt cold listening to it. Then came the excited howls and barks from the dogs as they gave chase. Before thinking about it, Orsay pulled back on her top, her underwear and her skirt and began to run down the stream in direction of the screaming. She splashed in the shallow end but as it grew deeper she was slowed down and struggled to keep moving. Orsay slipped and fell down hard onto her hands and knees, water splashing into her mouth and up her nose. She struggled back onto her feet and pushed on, running further down the street until she came to a second short waterfall like drop that was still higher than the one near her hide out. Orsay came to a stop at the top of it, resisting as the water pushed at the back of her legs and threatened to drop her over the edge.

Orsay gasped. Down on the muddy grass, right beside of the river was a young girl that had been one of Orsay's followers to see her for her visions back when Nerezza had been controlling her. She was one of the many young children that Orsay had spoken to after entering her mothers dreams. Orsay couldn't remember her last name but the bright red hair was a dead giveaway. Her name was Clementine, barely eight years old.

Clementine screamed as the two dogs had a hold of her ankles when she was inches away from the safety of the water and was dragged back with them. She opened her mouth and shrieked loudly. The dogs dragged her before letting her go just long enough to jump on her again and start biting once again.

It was such a terrifying shock. Orsay opened her own mouth and screamed to see the dogs pulling Clementine to pieces, tearing at her flesh. She screamed loudly but neither of the dogs noticed her. They were both too excited and too caught up in the flesh and the blood filling their jaws.

Orsay dropped down hard onto her knees, openly sobbing as Clementine was killed brutally and slowly in front of her. Her screams lasted for much longer than Orsay felt they should. It was only after her lower jaw had been torn off that she finally stopped screaming. Thankfully Orsay was too far to see the detail but she was not too far to make out the puddle of blood all around Clementine that grew until it was trickling into the river and being washed away towards the sea. Her jaw was carried away by one of the dogs who chewed on it like a toy while the other dog dug his face deep in Clementine's open belly. She seemed dead now. Or paralyzed so she couldn't move but Orsay hoped she was dead.

She counted in her head. Slowly. Orsay stayed at the top of the water drop and counted slowly in her head how long before she could move again. She didn't bother with minutes just seconds. She counted two thousands eight hundred and fifty five before Orsay finally managed to get back onto her feet. Shivering, she turned and walked slowly back to her little home, trying to block out the sounds of squelching as the dogs chewed one an inner organ.

Orsay vowed never to leave again. She didn't even want to see such a horrible sight _ever _again.

***G*O*N*E***

Orc hated the colour grey because that was how he had looked when he was a monster, yet the clouds above him were grey and the water looked almost grey and even the sand had a grey tinge to it. He moved slowly through the land. For a moment he had considered trying to climb up the rocky banks but quickly gave up on that idea, he was far too big and heavy... Though he was normal. His skin was no longer grey and stone, he looked normal again as far as he could see but he couldn't really see his own face, just his arms legs and body. He was still only dressed in some grey boxers but he didn't mind the feeling of the nice wind on his skin. It was nice to feel anything.

He had moved along the beach until the ground evened out and he didn't need to climb so much. He kept walking for an unknown amount of time until he found an even ground of grass and soft mud. Orc wasn't sure what to do here but now that he had his human body back he wanted to look for food. He wasn't hungry but he wanted to find something to chew anyway. In the end there was nothing and Orc found a seat by the river, picking leaves from a bush and chewing on them.

He sat, chewing leaves but there was no real taste. He couldn't taste anything at least. It was hard to explain but he tasted nothing in his mouth though he certainly felt the gritty leaves in between his teeth and on his tongue. While he was sat, chewing on leaves and staring at the river, he heard a noise. It sounded like someone screaming.

Orc was not new to screaming but still he wasn't sure what to do. For a moment he fumbled to stand up, looking around and part of him found himself wishing Howard was here with him to help him decide what to do. But Howard wasn't. He was on his own.

After a moment the screaming continued and Orc found himself stumbling in direction of the screams automatically. It was a person at least so he wasn't here on his own. Maybe he could find someone who could tell him where he was... And maybe if he found this person then he might have a chance of finding Howard again. He missed Howard!

The screaming stopped before Orc reached it but he still found the source. Whatever had happened to the person, they had stopped screaming a while ago. The remains of the person made them unrecognizable. Orc had seen plenty of disgusting murder and so the sight of what was left of the body, bloody with only bones really left behind, and a small portion of clothing, didn't both him nearly as much as it should have. Orc stared down at the remains and silently wondered what had caused this and who this person had been...

It was then he heard the splashing sound. He glanced up toward a small waterfall but there didn't seem to be anyone near him unless they were up the river and out of sight.

"Hello?!" Orc called after them. "Oi!"

There was no answer and the splashing grew quieter the further it went. After a moment he began to follow where the splashing was last heard. Maybe it was Howard, or someone who knew Howard or at least where he was.

The splashing was always just in ear shot as Orc stumbled along. Orc couldn't seem to get any closer and even though he tried to keep to the river, sometimes a tree or bush was in the way and he had to skirt around it which slowed him down and sometimes took him away from the water. Finally the splashing sound came to a stop, leaving Orc standing in the middle of a broken bush he had trampled in his haste. He glanced around but he couldn't see anyone nearby.

"Hello?" Orc mumbled, glancing around. He didn't know why but he had a feeling someone was watching him.

There was still no answer, and now things seemed frighteningly silent with trees hanging overhead.

"Anyone..." Orc mumbled, feeling sick. He didn't like it here.

"I don't... Remember you."

Orc blinked and looked up sharply. At first he didn't see anyone. But then a young girl appeared from behind a thick looking tree, hidden in the dark shadows. She was young, hair tired back out of her face with a strange pair of slipper like shoes on her feet. She had wide eyes and Orc was sure he knew her from somewhere.

"I thought I knew almost everyone from the FAYZ. I saw them all in their dreams at least..." She whispered.

At the mention of dreams Orc remembered who she was. "Your the Prophetess..."

"Just call me Orsay." She instructed, stepping forward. She was different from when Orc remembered her as the Prophetess. Back then she was timid and shy, only really saying much when it came to her dream visions and mostly hiding behind of her friend, Nerezza. Now she just somehow seemed stronger.

"Orsay..." He mumbled. So it wasn't Howard he heard after all. Orc tried to suppress the disappointment.

"What's your name? I really don't remember you." Orsay mumbled.

"Or-" Orc paused. No. He hated that nickname. He wanted people to stop calling him it but that was how they knew him. "Charles."

"Charles." Orsay smiled. "When did you get here?"

"I dunno..." He mumbled. "A while ago..."

"Yeah." Orsay smiled. "It's hard to keep a track of time here. I've got a way of counting time, but it's mostly just to tell stuff like how long we need to sleep for. It's not really for long term time keeping."

"Oh..." Orc mumbled.

"Come on, Charles. We better get back to my hide out before the dogs come back." Orsay said quietly, glancing around nervously.

"Dogs?" Orc blinked.

"Wow, you are new." Orsay smiled. "This way. I'll explain everything."

Orc hesitated but then followed Orsay as she made her way back to her hide out. They didn't have to go far. Orsay led them around the tree she had been hiding behind and down back towards the river. Finally she came to a stop in front of a large bush with a small hole in the side. Orsay immediately went to crawl through but then stopped and looked back when she heard Orc was not following her any longer.

"What's the matter?"

"The hole's too small for me to fit in through." Orc grumbled.

"Oh... Well you're certainly big. Maybe we can make the hole bigger and then cover it up with a tree branch or a rock..." Orsay mumbled. "Trust me. It's the best hiding spot but the small hole keeps the dogs out... I know!"

She stood and hurried around the small hide out, climbing over a fallen tree and landing with a splash in the river. Orc followed her, landing in the river behind her as she hurried further up and came beside a set of branches she had set up beside the river. She began to shift and move them out of the way.

"But..." Orc mumbled. "The dogs?"

"Oh, it's okay. The dogs can't step in the water. I learned that pretty quickly so it means we can have a big entrance here for you to come in and the dogs won't be able to get in." Orsay beamed. "We just have to make sure the rest of the bushes and trees stay in place."

"... Okay." Orc mumbled, not really following along.

Orc helped move the branches and set them up the way Orsay told him to before he slipped inside after her. It was a very small tight space with Orc when he stretched out but there was a surprising amount of room for such a small girl who made it. There was a large set of holes that looked damp like they had been full of water at one point and a thick layer of leaves that Orsay sat down on.

When they were both inside the shelter, Orsay took her bag from the side and set it down on the ground beside one of the holes.

"So... What are the dogs?" Orc mumbled.

"Well... They're the dogs." Orsay shrugged, unsure of where to start. "They're dogs that attack any person that comes near them. They kill everyone in a dozen of horrific ways!"

Orc stared at her, blinking. "But... Where are we? Why are they here?"

"Well..." Orsay again fell short. "Well this is... I think... I mean I don't have all the answers but I think this is where we go when we die." She paused, looking uncomfortable. "As for why the dogs are here. I have no idea. Maybe we all came straight to hell or something and they are part of the torment."

"No. Not hell." Orc scowled.

"Well... Charles... The point is it could be... I mean we don't know where we are." Orsay reasoned.

"It's not hell. God wouldn't send us to hell. Not the good people. You're good, you wouldn't be in hell. And hell is full of fire. That's what the bible says." Orc grumbled.

"Oh... Bible lover, huh?" Orsay asked. "I'm not really a Christian, but I still believe in a heaven and a hell. I just think it's different to what we're told."

Orc frowned at her but said nothing. After a long moment he looked at her and asked; "How long have you been here?"

"It's hard to tell time." Orsay shrugged.

"So you don't know?" Orc frowned.

"No." Orsay said calmly.

"But is anyone else here?" Orc pressed.

Orsay shrugged once again. "You're the first person that I've seen that hasn't been killed."

"Have you seen a small boy? Dark skin? Dark hair? Skinny? Named Howard?" Orc mumbled, trying to show exactly how small and skinny with his large and clumsy hands.

"Howard? Howard... Howard..." Orsay whispered, thinking back to the name. "I think I remember his mother dream of him. I remember." She nodded her head. "He used to hang around the big guy, made or gravel. Sorry. I haven't seen him."

Orc chose not to mention that he was the big guy Howard hung around. It was nice not to be recognized as the monster made of gravel.

"So what have you been doing?" Orc asked.

"What?" Orsay blinked.

"Since you've been here?" Orc frowned.

"Um... Surviving." Orsay laughed nervously. "There's not much to do so I kind of just... Have just been staying here. I mean we don't need to eat, or drink or use the bathroom and we only need to sleep for about twenty five minutes or so. I've just been avoiding the dogs."

"Well I want to find Howard." Orc moved to leave the small hide out.

"Wait!" Orsay shouted as he climbed into the river. "Howard could be dead. I just saw a friend of mine get killed by the dogs. As far as I know you're not reborn into this world after you die. You just stay dead. Not many people are here and those that are here have been either killed or hide away. I doubt you'll find him. You should stay here. It's safe here. The dogs can't get to us."

"I need to find Howard." Orc mumbled.

Orsay watched him go feeling sick. She had been excited to see someone else that she had managed to get to her safe spot with her. But now he was leaving and she would be alone again. But it was safe where she was and she couldn't leave... She promised she wouldn't leave again.

"Wait! Wait for me!"

Orsay quickly crawled out of the hide out and hurried to catch up with Orc.

"Charles! Please! Wait!" Orsay shouted. "Look, I can help you if you just listen to me for a bit. Come back to the hide out, rest, get some sleep and I can help you and if you still want to go find him... I'll help you."

"Why?" Orc frowned.

"... Even safe... Nobody wants to be alone." Orsay admitted, looking down at her feet, ashamed. Orc stared at her and nodded. He understood that. Still, he was surprised and a little embarrassed when Orsay took his hand to lead him back to her hide out.

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**I gotta know, (not sure if I should make it happen or not but) what would you guys say to a Orc and Orsay pairing? Well now that Orc is looking human again anyway.**

**Next Chapter: Bette and Dennis**


	4. Bette & Dennis II

**Okay! This is a major apology for slow update! At first I couldn't get on fanfiction, it kept saying something about an error and wouldn't let me on, then Christmas came around and I was so busy shopping and then I actually came up North to where I am now to spend Christmas with my dad and I left my laptop back at home. So sorry! I'm occasionally borrowing my dad's old laptop but sadly it means I won't get on much until I do go back down south on the 12th. So sorry! Try and keep the updates coming as much as I can.**

* * *

The woods were frightening and there were plenty of things to trip over and twist their ankles on with soft spots that made them feel like they were sinking into the ground. But there would be no perfect place for them to stay in this place and at least they could climb out of reach even if it was a struggle. That was why they quietly taught themselves to move fast but watch where they moved and placed their feet. Or at least that was what Bette had taught herself. It would have been nice to head back to the sea to wash up but it had taken a long time to reach the trees and it was only by luck that a dog hadn't found them on the journey there. Both of them had gotten off rather lucky all things considered.

"Let's hurry up. We need to make up for lost time." Bette mumbled, glancing around the area for sign that the dogs would be there, hiding in wait for them.

Luckily the dogs didn't hide well. They couldn't help but constantly make noises from a growl to howling particularly when they were near prey and got excited. It was either an instinct or they were that stupid, so they called their other friends and not thinking about warning the children that they were coming... Of course it could always be because they liked the children to be afraid. That was always a possibility.

"I can't hurry up!" Dennis moaned.

"Well you're going to have to _try_, Dennis." Bette hissed, feeling frustrated with his lack of help.

Dennis grit his teeth and forced himself to move quickly, despite the intense pain that followed up his leg. He had already been pushing himself but he was determined not to fall behind, nor to pull Bette back. After a short while of pretending she didn't notice his struggle, Bette gave in. She happened to glance back at him and could see from his face alone the struggle he was having as he tried to keep up with her. Dennis was red, his face tightened and he had his arms out like he was trying to balance as he limped along. He was really trying for her and it was stupid to push him if he really couldn't manage to move quickly on his own, all she was going to do was hurt him more. And, Bette had to admit, her heel was starting to really hurt even if it was wrapped up and protected from the dirt.

They had learned that their wounds did heal eventually after some time. It was hard to tell how long it took for their injuries to heal, much longer than they could count and maybe a few days (if there were days). But then these were minor wounds, scratches and itches from when they got caught on anything sharp that usually healed when they were too busy moving to notice. It was a wonder how long it would take before Dennis' ankle would heal. But then they weren't in a hurry.

"Come on. Let's find the thickest tree we can, climb up high and try and rest for a while until you can walk again." Bette said. "Preferably one we can sit side by side on so one can sleep and the other can keep them up on the thing."

Dennis smiled and nodded, looking extremely relieved. After a while of wandering and listening closely for howls they found a tree with so many branches so close together it was almost hard to squeeze in between them to climb up. It had thick leaves and was higher up than most of the other trees from what they could see. Bette helped Dennis up on the lowest branch first before she somehow managed to scale the trunk, finding rough parts to wedge her toes and fingers before she slipped onto a nearby branch, earning one or two splinters as she moved. After that they climbed up, one branch at a time until they were as high on a tree as they could get with Dennis' injured leg. Then they found two branches, thick with leaves, side by side and sat down together.

"You sleep first." Dennis offered when they had caught their breath back after the long climb.

Bette nodded, not bothering to worry about being polite. This wasn't a world where you argued 'no you go first, no you' like idiots.

As she curled up beside Dennis' leg and shut her eyes, she tried to ignore all the aching feelings from her heels to her head. Dennis immediately wrapped a protective arm around her to keep her from falling off and Bette found her hand unconsciously resting on Dennis' leg so she could grab him if she ever felt like she might be slipping.

She tried to ignore the knotted feeling in her stomach that she got every time she heard someone else die near her when she was unable to help them. That had not been the first time when she was forced to stand aside and let it happen. Bette had seen a total of seven different children killed and heard of quite a few more. She would sleep without nightmares at least. That was the only good thing about this world. You didn't dream.

***G*O*N*E***

When she next woke up it was to a leaf that had come free and nearly slipped up her nose during her deep breathing. Bette yawned, resisting the urge to just lay with her eyes shut for a few more minutes and slowly pushed herself up, ignoring desperate need to stand, walk and stretch to really wake up. She had the urge every time she woke up but there wasn't much room to stroll on a tree branch.

"Sleep well?" Dennis grinned down at her when she slowly woke up.

"Of course." Bette snorted. It was a joke now. It was impossible to do anything well in this world. "Your turn. Rest up."

"Not sure that I can..." Dennis mumbled.

"Well you have to try. We're going to be hanging around for a while until your leg heals." Better grumbled.

Dennis sighed and glared down at his leg. "I'm sorry, Bette. I should have watched where I was going."

"Yes. But now you know to be even more careful from now on." Bette said seriously.

She watched as Dennis ducked his head, embarrassed. Bette had the smallest flicker of guilt in her stomach but quickly washed away at the shake of her head. She had grown to be a hard woman while she lived here and sadly that wasn't going to change just because she had company. You didn't pretend your mistakes didn't happen, instead you learned from them and did better next time.

"Go to sleep." Bette commanded. "Maybe sleep will help it heal."

"Okay. I'll try." Dennis mumbled but he didn't believe that sleep would do more than shut him up for however long.

Bette watched as Dennis curled up in very much the same position that she had been when she drifted to sleep. Immediately she placed her hand on his forearm and leaned back, staring at the trees ahead of her and listening to the sounds around her as Dennis dozed off.

There wasn't a wind but there was somehow some kind of buzzing in the air that everyone could hear. There were no other animals apart from the dogs but no one, as far as Bette knew, had climbed to the top of the tree to see if there were any animals that made buzzing sounds. Maybe the dogs made them. Maybe the sound was as natural as wind in a normal world. Maybe it was something else entirely that Bette had not yet to see.

Bette had started this run through the trees to find what else was out there but it had quickly turned into a new tactic of purely staying alive. It was the reason she was still in the forest, circling around until she ran into Dennis who was keen to stick with Bette in order to survive as well. They no longer cared about anything other than living for as long as they could.

"Things will be okay..." Bette whispered to herself and almost immediately felt ill.

Often when Bette was looking after her brother, even before the FAYZ, she sang him a song that had the lyrics 'Things will be okay' in the chorus. Maybe it wasn't a song but a poem... Or a mixture of both... Bette couldn't remember any other lyrics but these and it made her heart ache when she thought of it.

Her brother was either alive in the FAYZ, alive in this world, or dead in both. What would be worse? What did Bette hope for? It seemed too sick to even think about. Instead she tried to think about anything else but what she thought about was either the horror of the FAYZ, the longing of the normal world or the horror of this new world. Either way, nothing brought a smile to her lips. If anything Bette was fighting the tight feeling in the back of her throat that suggested she might start tearing up.

What else was there to look forward to is this world? It was as nightmarish as the FAYZ if not worse.

"Your shaking." Dennis whispered.

"Go. To. Sleep." Bette growled.

"I can't!" Dennis sat up. "I'm not going to sleep and my leg isn't going to heal in a night."

Bette was started to get frustrated. But then she saw Dennis staring at her with his wide dark eyes. His eyes were almost black and looked a mixture of frightening and adorable cat like. In the end her frustration eased from her and she leaned back.

"Things are going to get worse. I'm going to get more angry with everyone around me. Maybe we should think about..." Bette began.

"There's no point in splitting up. We work well together." Dennis said immediately.

"I know that." Bette grumbled.

"What's wrong?" Dennis asked, moving closer to her.

For a moment the ridiculous thought of kissing Dennis popped into Bette's head. Not because she liked him. Neither of them had ever felt any real attraction to one another and had never tried to be anything other than friends. But in this world imagination ran wild and Bette had the thought of kissing him just because she was curious as to what he would do if she did. Then she was thinking straight again and Bette reached up, touching her short hair and twisting a few strands in between her fingers.

"I just keep getting more upset. I get more angry, more annoyed, more frustrated and more..." Bette sighed. "How much longer can we do this? How much longer can we struggle on and live. We could be doing this for an eternity and the longer we stay the more angry I get over nothing."

"You're over thinking." Dennis said.

"Am I?" Bette scowled.

"Yes. Remember what you first said to me? The first thing when we decided to team up? You said, No matter what, our goal is just to survive." Dennis stated proudly.

"I know but how long can we do it for?!" Bette snapped.

"For as long as we can." Dennis shrugged.

"For as long as we can..." Bette repeated in a whisper. "That just seems impossible."

Dennis let out a laugh and blushed, slapping hands over his mouth. His eyes darted around the trees bellow them but no dogs showed up and after a moment of tense silence from the both of them he looked at Bette again.

"How can it seem impossible with no real target?" Dennis grinned.

"It just does!" Bette snapped. She didn't like Dennis being happy. They were in a horrible place and fighting for survival every minute. It sounded mean but he had no right to be happy while they were in such a dark horrible place like this.

"Maybe we should tell some more stories?" Dennis suggested.

One way they passed the time was telling one another stories. Sometimes they were made up off the top of their heads, sometimes they were something they read in books, sometimes they were memories from happy times in the normal world.

Bette wasn't really in the mood to hear or tell stories but it would be unfair to deny Dennis this opportunity. And what else could they do but sit around and mope about how hard and frightening things were.

"Go on..." Bette sighed.

"New fiction, old fiction or reality?" Dennis asked.

She didn't want to play this game. "Uh... Reality."

"Okay Let's see..." Dennis mumbled. "Well I have one, but it's from the day of the FAYZ."

"No FAYZ stories!" Bette demanded.

"Aw, but it's a good one!" Dennis grinned. "Besides, it's not from the FAYZ. Just the day of it."

"Fine!" Bette snapped. Her mood just seemed to be getting worse and worse.

"Okay. Me and my friend Danny were playing cards under the desk when our teacher caught us and sent us both outside to stand silently in the hallway..."

And so Dennis began a long story. Bette only half payed attention to what he was saying, nodding her head and grunting every now and then. From what she could hear the story went on about how Dennis and Danny slipped out of the school that day and went to the shops. While there he found a cat that they both took in. He didn't say it but Bette knew the cat died after the FAYZ began. The story overall was pointless, it ended when Dennis and Danny somehow managed to sneak back into the school again with the cat hidden in a small part of the woods.

"Cool." Bette said at the end, unsure of what else to say.

"Your turn." Dennis said.

"I'm really not in the mood." Bette mumbled. "Why don't you tell me a story from a book if you're so talkative today."

"I'm just passing time."

Bette scowled. Passing time. Fighting for survival. Running. That was all they ever did. It was so frustrating but what was more frustrating was that they had no choice in the matter. Well they did... They could give themselves to the dogs.

"Maybe I'll try and nap." Dennis mumbled.

"Sounds like a plan."

As Dennis tried once again to curl up Bette found herself wishing - once again - that Sam or Astrid were with them. Sam was always so brave, running into that fire to save the girl, taking control of the bus when the driver had a heart attack, even stepping in to protect Bette when Orc and the others had come for her. He would have been the perfect leader to follow, to help them and to tell them what to do. Or Astrid who was smart and would help them understand what was happening, what these things were and what they were supposed to do next.

Bette didn't know Astrid too well. She never really paid attention when the Blonde Genius showed up in a conversation. Honestly, she wasn't that interesting. Once you found out she was a genius that was all there really was to her. Well, honestly, that and someone mentioned she was religious. But apart from that she was pretty boring and Bette didn't care for her. But being smart would be helpful right about now. Bette was only really good at maths. She was terrible at English and only okay in Science.

Thinking back to her classes, Bette tried to think of the smartest people she knew apart from Astrid. That was tough. Her friend, Corinne was the smartest of the group and Alex was the nerd boy who always sat with his head in a book. Bette had a crush on Alex at one point until she found out he had a crush on Sam. That had been awkward.

Bette shook her head. She was getting off track. Corinne, Alex, there was also Sara who was one of the top people in Science, Benny and Sam (not Temple, this was Sam Kench) and Barry. They were the smartest people Bette knew in her class. Mostly they were just good at separate subjects, different things that they all kind of stood out at but having a smart person would be comforting even if they weren't actually any help. Oh! There was also that Jack guy. Computer Jack they called him. He was said to get the internet and phones working again before Orc hit Bette around the head. But the chances were they were all still alive and wouldn't be joining them. Not that Bette hoped they would join them...

But then again, from what Dennis said half the population were being killed off so any one of them could join them. They could have already joined... Only they could have also been killed off within a day of getting here by the dogs. Bette hoped not.

After a while Bette tried not to think about other people. It was too painful. If they weren't here she missed them and if they were here then she had to realise that they were dead. She couldn't win either way. That was so depressing.

When time had passed Dennis woke up and Bette gave his leg a gentle squeeze to see how bad it hurt. He winced but said it was better than before. Bette watched the injury for a moment before she looked back at Dennis.

"Maybe give it another night or two and you could probably get walking again. That's pretty cool. Your leg was probably just twisted a little to begin with. We're lucky it wasn't broken. We just need to pass a little more time and then we can get going again." Bette shrugged.

"I find it funny." Dennis smiled sadly. "We're just trying to survive but we can't bring ourselves to just stay up safely in a tree." Bette blushed and looked confused. She didn't understand why they didn't stay up in a tree. It never occurred to her. Suddenly Dennis said the answer. "I guess we're not just trying to survive. We're trying to live too."

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**Next Chapter: Brianna**


	5. Brianna II

"Ow! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shitty! Shit! Shit!" Brianna swore loudly to herself hopping on her right foot that was the least damaged.

She had been running as fast as she possibly could just to test herself (and because she was getting sick of the hill getting no closer no matter how much she ran towards it) when one of her legs just seemed to give in right underneath her, knocking the other leg and send her down to the ground hard. She had dropped in a heap, twisting and turning, rolling through the dirt and crunching on the broken pieces of sand under her and chocking on the dust that lifted as she was dragged by gravity. She had rolled for at least half a mile before she finally came to a stop, lying on the ground, with every part of her skin bright red and pink, white scratches over every part of her skin with her top practically being torn in two though she had no idea when or how she did it. She had been trying to move fast, ducking her head slightly to make herself small so she might be able to run even faster with less wind resistance. Bad idea. Now every part of her body hurt even without the aching along her limbs from running so fast and her feet felt as if they had been torn to ribbons so she didn't dare check up on them in case they looked as bad as they felt. Instead she climbed back onto her feet once more and realised, she was at the hills.

She had been focussing so much on pushing herself ahead, practically glaring down at her feet and demanding that they move faster, that she hadn't realised she had made it until now that she was pausing and she had unconsciously been slowly been moving upwards when she had tripped up. After the trip she had actually been thrown forward and had actually been rolling up the hill before she finally came to a stop.

It was great that she was up the hill but Brianna kept swearing as she stood up, shivering from the pain along her feet and angry at herself and this place. She really was glad she had finally made it but her body still hurt and her legs still felt like they were made of jelly and she was still sore and she was still angry! She looked up at the top of the hill, rounded and with a sandy orange-yellow surface that was clear in colour but still somehow came across as dark and damp. When she took a step forward she wobbled so much anyone watching might have thought her drunk.

"SHIT!" Brianna shouted, still angry at herself for everything that had happened. It all hurt and she was angry at her body for being hurt. "Shit! God damn shitting shitty shit!"

She spent the next few minutes just swearing on the spot, catching her breath. Finally she continued to swear but she also started storming in a slight circle while she still somehow managed to continue to slowly walk up towards the top of the hill. Brianna was moving slowly now, what other people would have considered a normal walking pace but what she felt like a snails crawl, because of her aching and red limbs. When she had finally calmed down long enough to get the rest of her breath back and stop swearing, it was only because she saw shapes coming from the horizon behind her, heading straight towards of her.

"GOD! DAMN! IT!" Brianna shouted as loudly as she could after a moment of shocked ringing silence. "Will you stupid dogs just chase your tail and leave me alone?!"

The dogs didn't reply, obviously, but they didn't stop running her way either. Brianna sighed, trying to calm down so she could get moving to safety once more. Running so much was not the same for her any more, it was leaving her feeling stiff and tense so her temper was shorter than ever before and she was frustrated with herself for it. Brianna used to be The Breeze! She was faster than a bullet! She was the fastest person alive and she barely felt tired afterwards back in the FAYZ. Maybe a little hungry, or a lot hungry but never really tired and achy like she was feeling today and hunger was never something new in the FAYZ. Well, at least here she didn't feel hungry. It was like a cruel joke. In the FAYZ she was constantly hungry but hardly every tired. Here she was never hungry but constantly tired.

But moaning and remembering old times like this wasn't going to help her here so she forced herself to take one more breath and started up the hill on a set of sore feet.

It was a lot harder trying to run up the hill than it had been to run across the flat surface. She was stalled by it and it actually took her quite a few valuable seconds to get running up the hill before she found her pace and began to move faster again but even then it was slow. Brianna hated slow! She glanced back and the dogs were getting in close but they were still far away. She ran for as long as she could right up the hill to the very top. When she was nearing the top she glanced back once more and saw the dogs seemed to be easing off at the moment, probably just about to give up again and so she could actually sit down and rest her sore limbs.

When she looked forward again the scream burst before she could control it and she threw herself back seconds before the dog in front of her took a snap at where her throat had been. It must have been waiting there for her, just out of view over the hill while she was glancing back and she wouldn't have heard it because of the wind howling around her ear and the hair snapping loudly like a thousand thin whips all attacked to her skull. She heard the growling now, for all the good it did her.

Brianna fell down hard on her elbow, causing another set of pain to join the rest of her, and rolled, skidding for a moment before she somehow found her way back onto her feet. The FAYZ had taught her to fight and stand serious pain, which was becoming useful now that it seemed like she was in constant pain at every turn. Brianna looked at the dog for just a second before she turned, running away from the dog only to drop and skid again when she nearly ran into a second dog that had somehow ran around and snuck up on her. It was probably the only living creature that had ever been able to actually sneak up on her that quickly. When she climbed back onto her feet once more and looked around there were five dogs, all identical and all surrounding her.

On the plus side the dogs at the horizon had disappeared.

They all stared at her with identical yellow eyes and pulled back their dark lips at the same time in a identical snarl. It was like there was only one and the rest were mirror copies that did everything that one did at the same time.

Brianna gasped in shock at the sight of a thousand over large fangs and looked around but she was surrounded. They had her caught! Brianna gasped again as panic began to set in, spinning in a circle and clenching her hands and teeth tightly. There was no way out. They were closing in on her. She had to think fast. She had to move fast! She had to do something! She had to be The Breeze!

The first one snapped at her from behind and grabbed the back of her top that had already been torn and tugged. It was trying to pull her towards it but Brianna pulled back and now it had been pulled completely into two clean pieces, one in the dogs mouth, the other clinging on to her skin but exposing most of her left side, including her chest. Brianna shrieked and moved away but that only put her in range of the other dogs teeth and she had to run in a circle just to avoid them all which was a lot more difficult than it sounded considering how much the dogs were closing in by.

"Piss off you bastard dogs!" Brianna shrieked, her anger coming back again along with the panic.

Two jumped up at her at the same time and Brianna took her chance, darting underneath the one to her right and out of the dog circle. Free!

She started running, but in this world it took her a moment to pick up her feet and get going fast enough to out run them. Brianna hurried but the dogs snapped at her ankle and she found herself stumbling more than running away. Somehow she managed to stay on her feet but not for long before a dog jumped on her, literally its paws landing on her shoulders and sending her down hard into the ground.

"Arggg!" Brianna shouted when her jaw hit the ground and dirt somehow made it's way down her throat.

Brianna forced herself to roll sharply, knocking the dog off of her back. As soon as she was lying on her back they all jumped on her again. In a desperate and final attempt to protect herself, Brianna started kicking and scratching as crazy and fast as she could (which turned out to be much faster than she could actually run). The dog was hit by two feet dashing in a blur and was thrown back off of her into a second dog, leaving three more to jump her. Brianna didn't stop lashing out constantly and while each of the dogs managed to scratch her and even draw lines of blood, they were knocked away before they could cause her any serious damage.

The problem was that the blood was driving them crazy with hungry and every time one of them was knocked back, the other was getting back onto it's feet and going for her throat again. It was the worst possible situation that she could have put herself in and she had no way of getting herself out again. It was getting harder to keep them back as they grew more wild but she couldn't give up. She wasn't going to give up.

"NO!" Brianna shouted, trying to push them off of her and get back onto her feet at the same time but every time she stopped kicking and lashing out they had a chance to really hurt her. She was trapped. Unless they somehow grew tired and left her alone, she was going to have to kick and punch for the rest of her undead life.

In the end Brianna kept fighting. She kept fighting because she was too afraid to give up. She kicked her legs hard and fast even when they began to grow heavy and painful. Her arms lashed out in a variety of punches, slaps and scratches no matter how badly her elbows ached and begged to be allowed to rest beside of her. She wriggled her body like a worm until she felt herself sliding back down from the hill but the dogs followed her and she was moving at such a slow pace anyway. It lasted for so long. Impossibly long. Painfully long. And there didn't seem to be an end in sight.

And then one of them disappeared. At first she didn't notice because they were all coming and going so much and so quickly but then at one moment it registered and she turned her head just enough to see that, yes, there were only four left falling and pouncing at her. It gave her hope!

The next however long it took to keep the dogs at bay (it felt like hours) was slow but somehow the hope kept Brianna going even when her limbs felt ready to fall off. Slowly, one by one, the dogs grew sick and tired and they left her until there was only one left, still determined to have a bite out of her.

This one was persistent but it would probably grow tired and give up just like all the others had. But Brianna was already impatient, not to mention completely exhausted, and so gathered as much strength as she could in her feet. She pushed them together and kicked the dog hard, sending it flying away from her. She jumped back onto her feet the minute she was free, having time now that there was only one, and ran straight at the dog because she knew she still wouldn't be able to out run it as she was now. Instead she hoped to stall the dog as much as it had stalled her. It snapped it's jaws but she picked up a bit of speed, ducked and slammed into the dogs torso, throwing them both backwards.

When they landed Brianna was back on her feet in seconds, turning and running up the rest of the hill. When she glanced back the dog was on his own feet and heading for her again but it was limping. That was great! If it was limping then it was hurt and she hurt it! You could hurt these things! Maybe you could even kill them!

Another rush of hope helped Brianna find the strength to run fast. It took a moment for the information to really set in but even before it registered in her mind she felt her strength rush through her.

Brianna actually allowed herself to pause for a single moment, jump in the air and cheer. "YEEEEES!"

Then she had to get running again. She didn't want the dog to catch her up. Even limping its fangs and claws still were working well enough to kill her. Her limbs ached, she was cut, scratched and bruised. But she was alive!

As she rounded the top of the hill she moved to run straight down, the speed of running down would give her another boost, then she could loose the dog and head back to the top of the hill when he was gone and actually look around like she planned.

It was as she was running down the hill that the dog appeared to her right, jumping through the air and landing on the side of her neck and head. As he hit her, it's teeth sunk down tightly onto her shoulder. When they hit the ground the dog began to work at tearing Brianna apart.

* * *

**Next Chapter: Orc and Orsay**


End file.
